Salmon Rolls

Of all my favorite ethnic foods, sushi is my go-to.  I have no qualms with grabbing a roll at the grocery store.  If I want to celebrate a successful day at work, at the sushi bar I sit.  When anyone in my immediate family is having a birthday, the local sushi restaurant is our go-to establishment.

Given all of these sushi-centric eating decisions, it's a little sad that I have not attempted to make sushi at home.  This sadness is only amplified by the fact that I own a sushi rolling mat and a special spoon for tossing the sushi rice.  That's right...I own a sushi rice spoon.  Now I really feel like the big girl on campus.

The mat and spoon were actually a gift...well, sort of a gift.  It was more like a "I'm cleaning out my cabinets and you seemed liked someone who would want this" kind of situation.  Which is exactly how it went down.  I was in grad school, in another life, and one of my classmates was packing up for a move.  He realized he needed to make some serious decisions about what he kept and what he tossed and since I'm a serious kitchen gadget hoarder, I benefited greatly from his downsizing.

I decided to use smoked salmon in my first ever sushi rolls.  Maybe one day I'll have a fish guy that I'll trust enough to buy raw fish from and make sushi out of it.  For now, I'll stick with food I'm 97.3% positive will not give me some sort of weird stomach worm.  For my salmon companion, I went with mango in one roll and avocado in the other.  In my opinion, these are pairings that will have everyone going back for more rolls.

Salmon Rolls

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. sushi rice

3 c. water

1/2 c. rice vinegar

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

8 Nori Toasted Seaweed Sheets

8 oz smoked salmon

8 avocado slices

8 mango slices

Soy sauce for dipping

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan, combine water and rice and bring to a slow boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until all water is absorbed and rice is completely cooked.

In a medium sauce pan combine the vinegar, oil, sugar, and salt.  Heat on medium and stir until the sugar dissolves.  This should only take a few minutes.

Combine the rice and the liquid in a large bowl.  Mix until the rice is well coated.  Let cool completely before working with it.

Once the rice is cooled, lay out your bamboo rolling mat and place a seaweed sheet in the center.

Carefully create a thin layer of rice on the seaweed.  The seaweed is not overly delicate, but it will rip easily so you do not want to get all Incredible Hulk when spreading out the rice.  You also want to be sure your rice layer is thin.  

Bad layering

You'll know you added too much rice once you've rolled it and you get a lot of rice and tiny bit of filling.

Once you have your rice layer, add your filling along the top edge of the rice.  Roll one had an ounce of smoked salmon and 2 slices of avocado.

Good layering

Roll two had salmon and mango.

Using the mat, roll up your sushi.

You may need to use your fingers to keep the filling in place as you fold the top edge over.

The seaweed might slip around a bit as you are rolling so apply consistent pressure, as if you were rolling and shaping bread dough.

Even a sushi novice, such as myself, can get a decent roll on the first try.  Repeat the process until you have all of your rolls and then cut and serve.

I really enjoyed both rolls, but I think my favorite was the salmon and mango.  The salty, smoky flavor from the salmon paired amazingly with the sweetness of the mango.  Two rolls made the perfect weekend lunch.  Enjoy!

Cod Mistral

First, let's discuss the title Cod Mistral.  I have no idea what mistral is so I looked it up with the handy dandy Google Tranlate.  It detected mistral to be English.  Since both the English and the Italian translation of this dish contain the word mistral - unhelpful.  The definition I was given for the English version of mistral was "a strong, cold northwesterly wind that blows through the Rhône valley and southern France into the Mediterranean, mainly in winter."  Soooooo, I made Cod Northwesterly Wind?  This are one of those moments where I just throw up my hands and give up.  Maria Lusia, why do you insist on making me nuts?!

Stupid nonsensical translations aside, this was a tasty dish, except for one thing.  There is always a but isn't there.  Maria Luisa made me double cook my cod again.  I do not enjoy double cooking cod because I run the risk of the rubbery texture.  And two of my fillets, the thicker ones, were rubbery...no buono Maria Luisa, no buono.   Now, for anyone saying "you could have just ignored the instructions to both sauté and bake," yes, I could have.  However, I feel a bit more justified in my ranting if I follow her instructions.  Had I intended to serve Cod Northwesterly Wind to anyone other than myself, I most certainly would have chosen to only bake the fish.

I should also admit a faux pas of my own...I used a French wine.  I know, total sacrilege but, it said dry right on the label, I had to pick it - Monsieur Touton Sauvignon.

Final rant...what the heck is a moderate oven!  Maria Luisa, why do you give me ridiculous directions?!  I'm not kidding.  The last sentence for the directions of this recipe are, and I quote "Bake in a moderate oven for 15 to 25 minutes" (pg 106).  ARGH

Cod Mistral

Merluzzo alla Mistral

Ingredients:

8 cod fillets - dipped in flour

1 c. olive oil

1 lb. tomatoes - peeled and diced

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp parsley - chopped

1 lb. mushrooms - sliced

6 Tbsp bread crumbs

4 Tbsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Lightly sauté cod in oil until both sides are golden.  In a 13 x 9 baking dish, sprinkle half of the bread crumbs then place the cod on top.  In the saute pan, add tomatoes to remaining oil along with the garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper.  

Simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove the garlic and add wine and mushrooms.  Simmer until half of the wine has evaporated, approximately 10 minutes.  Pour the sauce over the cod.  Sprinkle the rest of the bread crumbs on top and bake for 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 350F.

Doesn't look like much does it?  Don't worry, it tastes way better than it looks.  The mushrooms held up really well even after being both sauteed and baked.  They were nice and firm...I greatly dislike mushy mushrooms.


 

And here it is, my first entirely The Italian Cookbook Challenge meal - a protein, carb, and veggie all on the same plate.  And I'm still alive...darn you Maria Luisa, thwarting my best efforts to give poor marks on your ridiculous cookbook.  There is always next week!  Buon appetito!

Fillets of Cod Florentine

Oh Maria Luisa, how I wanted to hate this recipe, especially since you required me to make a sauce for this dish.  However,  it is pretty tasty and rather simple, so I am forced to put this one in the win column and save it for future use.

Of course, this recipe is not without its faults.  The cod fillets are both simmered on the stove and then baked in the oven, which I find to be overkill.  Why it was too difficult for her to just pick one is beyond me.  Cod does not require a long cooking time and therefore can easily be overcooked, which results in a rubbery texture.  No one wants rubbery fish Maria Lusia!

My other issue is with the spinach.  Granted, we do live in a time of pre-cut, pre-washed, bagged spinach. Maybe cooking the spinach in salted water THEN sauteing in butter was necessary for edible spinach in 1950.  Today, that translates to cooking your spinach to within an inch of its life.  Have I steamed and then sauteed greens before?  Sure, greens like swiss chard that are typically a bit tougher.  The leaves may be soft but the stems and veins are not.  But seriously, overcooked spinach just looks sad and we do not want unhappy food.

For the sake of being true to the recipe though, I prepared it as instructed.

Fillets of Cod Florentine

Filetti di Merluzzo alla Fiorentina

Ingredients:

8 small fresh cod fillets

2 lbs spinach - bagged, cooked in salted water then sauteed in butter

1 1/2 c. dry white wine (I chose Sauvignon Blanc)

1/3 c. Parmesan cheese - grated

1 c. Mornay Sauce (recipe below)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook the spinach first.  Using a large sauce pot, bring just an inch or two of salted water to a boil.  Add the spinach and cover, cooking for just a few minutes.  Once the spinach on top begins to darken in color, drain the spinach, and transfer it to a large saute pan with melted butter.  Saute for about 5 minutes.  Drain the excess liquid then put the spinach in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Next, make the Mornay Sauce...

Mornay Sauce

Salsa Mornay

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. butter

1 heaping Tbsp. flour

1 1/2 c. milk - whole or 2%

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese - grated

1 egg yolk

dash of pepper

dash of nutmeg

Directions:

Melt the butter in a small saucepan then add the flour.  Stir until smooth (you are making a roux).  Add the milk and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring continually.  The sauce should thicken.  Add spices, stir, then remove from heat.  Rapidly stir in the cheese and egg yolk.  This should make about 1 1/2 cups.  Store in an air tight container if not using immediately.  It should last about one week in the refrigerator. 

Now, on to the fish....Place the fillets in a large saute pan.  Make sure there is no overlap.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper then add the wine.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove the fillets and place them on top of the spinach.  Pour on the Mornay Sauce and sprinkle on the cheese.

Place in an oven preheated to 350F and bake for 15 minutes.

I paired my Cod Florentine with purple fingerlings from the farmers market.  They were boiled and mashed with just a bit of milk, butter, and garlic.  Mmmm, purple mashed potatoes.

My advice after doing this...pick one of the cooking styles for the cod.  If the Mornay Sauce is being prepared at the same time, just simmer the fish in the wine.  If the sauce was made previously, jump to the baking portion.  As for the spinach...buy it bagged and only saute it in a little butter.

Aside from the complaints, this is a good meal.  It's also easily increased or decreased so it is a great meal to make when company comes over.  A few extra cod fillets, a little more spinach, and you have a meal that will taste good and presents well on a large platter.  So, for the American hostess for which Maria Luisa's cookbook was intended, it is a win.